Supply pods (SMAC)
Supply pods are supposedly what landed when the Unity ship broke apart and scattered across the planet, and thus contain things from that ship. They also sometimes contain alien lifeform, sonar scans of the surrounding area, whirlpools that send a ship to a different part of the ocean, and even monoliths that somehow fit inside them and magically appear when you open them. At your starting game settings, you can determine whether or not to have supply pods randomly scattered across the planet. The standard rules allow this. Things that supply pods can have *Food/nutrients *Minerals *Energy *Kelp or farms that appear around them when you touch them *Hostile native lifeforms (mind worms, spore launchers, fungal towers, and/or isle of the deep). *Fungus blooms *A sonar or radar scan of the surrounding squares *Technology *Monolith *The communications frequency of another faction *A tidal wave that sweeps your ship away a distant (only if you touch a pod over a water tile of course) *The message "Your unit has fallen through a dimensional gate" then having your land unit teleport to a different location *A rover *A copter(even if at the start of the game nowhere near to discovering air power) *A sea transport *"The crude human pod has malfunctioned and unleashed an earthquake! Typical!" Earthquake alters the height of the terrain in the area. *Taps an underground river. *Builds a solar collector on that spot *Builds a farm on that spot *The communications frequency of another faction *Alien artifact which can be connected to a network node in any base that has one, and grant you a technology you don't already have. You can also recycle its minerals to use with the construction of a Secret Project or a prototype. *"A dimensional rift has cloned our scout infantry unit!" From the script.txt that comes with the game: We have recovered a {survey pod} from the Unity. :It has located abundant $RESOURCETYPE0 resources. We have recovered a {resupply pod} from the Unity! :It contains manufacturing supplies worth $NUM0 energy credits! We have recovered a {resupply pod} from the Unity! :It contains manufacturing supplies worth $NUM0 energy credits! An {hydrology pod} has tapped an underground river! A robot {mining pod} has prepared mines in this area. A robot {agricultural pod} has cultivated this area. A robot {power pod} has set up solar collectors in this area. We have discovered a {sea farming pod} from the Unity! Kelp forest has proliferated in this region. We have recovered a {cartographic pod} containing data on the surrounding area! We have recovered a {sonar pod} containing data on the surrounding area! The pod has malfunctioned and unleashed an earthquake! Our unit has dematerialized and vanished forever! Our unit has vanished forever into a whirlpool! Our unit has fallen through a dimensional gate! Our unit has been swept away by a tidal wave! Activating the pod triggers a Xenofungal bloom! We have discovered a {hydroponics pod} from the Unity! Forest has proliferated in this area! The pod was infested with native lifeforms! Our unit reports that an Isle of the Deep has surfaced and swallowed the pod! We have discovered a {materials pod} from the Unity! It has provided sufficient minerals for us to finish building the $ITEM0 at $BASENAME1 next turn! This is not a pod after all, but an alien artifact! We should take it to a base containing a Network Node for further study. A dimensional rift has cloned our $UNITTYPE0 unit! We have recovered a {supply pod} from the Unity! It contains a $UNITYUNITTYPE0 in working condition! We have recovered a {data pod} from the Unity! It contains the Commlink frequency for $TITLE0 $NAME1 of the $FACTION2. We have recovered a {data pod} from the Unity! The Chief Librarian is installing it into the Datalinks now. We have recovered a {data pod} from the Unity containing information on $TECH0! Things you can change in the editor affect unity pods *Set it so no unity pods exist at all. *Unity Pods never produce artifacts. *Unity Pods never produce monoliths. *Unity Pods never produce resources. *Unity Pods never produce vehicles. *Unity Pods never produce tech. Other remains of the ship that provide you with things You can also walk over the wreckage of the Unity ship and find its computer, listing where some of the other factions landed at. category: Alpha Centauri